The Most Entertaining Athletes of All Time

By: Eniko

Posted: April 2, 2020

Updated: April 2, 2020

Shaquille O’Neal has appeared in several films and released rap albums
Muhammed Ali was nominated twice for Grammys
Novak Djokovic song on the Eurovision Song Contest as a guest

On April Fool’s Day, we thought to make a list of the most entertaining athletes of all time. Who were not only great sportsmen but also real showmen, making everyone smile. From the biggest NBA stars to tennis players, most of them come from the US, the home of entertainment. To be a professional athlete usually is a very serious job, which requires lots of discipline and hard work. But the following athletes all manage to become great representatives of the sport while also keeping their humor and not taking everything too seriously. Some of them used their skills to appear in movies or TV programs. While for others it was enough to entertain the fans and their sports colleagues on the field.

In the most entertaining athletes of all time, we find NBA players

Probably the most famous athletes who also got successful in show business are NBA players. Like Shaquille O’Neal who wasn’t only a brilliant basketball player but also a great entertainer on and off the court. Besides winning the NBA four times and selected to the All-Star team 15 times, O’Neal released four rap albums, and also produced electronic music. He has appeared in several films, from Kazaam to Steel where he played the first Afro-American superhero. And the list goes on, as he has his own reality shows, like Shaq’s Big Challenger. Here he tried to help six obese children to lose weight and change to a healthy lifestyle. At the moment he is a sports analyst and also auxiliary deputy but he is also planning to run for sheriff this year.

Sir Charles

Another NBA player who became famous after his professional career is Charles Barkley, who works in the same TV program as O’Neal. Barkley appeared in the NBA All-Star team 11 times and was part of the ‘Dream Team’ which won the Olympic gold in 1992 and 1996. He was loved by the fans and the media even though he had some aggressive moments with them. After his retirement he is working as a pundit, sharing his funny and hilarious personality. If you search for him on a video sharing site, surely you’ll come across his best moments and a few impersonations as well. Though the NBA has been suspended at the moment, you can still make a bet on the winner of this season on Unibet.

‘The Greatest’ was not only a great boxer

Muhammad Ali was the first sports figure who attracted everyone’s attention and not just only for his boxing skills. His pre-fights mocks made him famous as well, which were close to poetry and had some elements of hip-hop. Ali also tried himself as an actor, in Freedom Road he had a real role as a former slave and Union soldier in the 1870s. His music career was even more successful after he received two Grammy nominations for his spoken word music albums, I Am the Greatest and Best Recording for Children. Of course only to watch his matches were entertaining enough. Approximately 1-2 billion people viewed his biggest fights, like the one with Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

The Baddest Man on the Planet

We have to mention another American boxer, who also got world-famous, Mike Tyson. He was one of the best boxers and still holds the record for the youngest heavyweight champion. He was only 20 at his first victory. Tyson was a controversial figure as well during his career and had episodes like biting his rival, Evander Holyfield’s ears. He was also convicted of rape and served three years in prison. But in spite or maybe because of all his scandals, he has become a popular entertainer. From holding boxing shows in Las Vegas to having his one-man show on Broadway. A document series and biography called Undisputed Truth was published in 2013 which appeared in the New York Times Best Seller list. Online gambling sites in the US love great fights, you can already make a bet for the next big one between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder. It will be a rematch of their previous fight, where Fury defeated Wilder in the heavyweight title match. He is the favorite to win again with the odds of 1.25 at the Unibet Sportsbook.

Peyton Manning is the most entertaining NFL player

Maybe it’s not so well-known, but one of the greatest quarterbacks of NFL’s history, Peyton Manning has a charming personality. It came across during his interviews and in the commercials he made. On his 31st birthday, he hosted Saturday Night Live, which received one of the show’s highest ratings. He also lent his voice in the episodes of The Simpsons and to a bull in the animated film, Ferdinand. Even though he retired in 2016, he is still one of the most popular athletes in the US. He is currently working on a new series about the NFL’s history. Online sportsbooks in the US can’t wait for the start of the new NFL season, odds for the winner and the first games are also available on Unibet.

European entertainers

But not only American athletes belong to the most entertaining athletes of all time, let’s see some European ones. Tennis players are usually seen as very prim and serious athletes, but we can find examples of the opposites. Like one of the greatest tennis players, Novak Djokovic. He is a true professional but also a great personality with a good sense of humor. The latter came to light in 2007 when the BBC crew recorded his impersonations of fellow tennis players from Maria Sharapova to Rafael Nadal. He appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 in Belgrade, and even joined to sing a song. Djoko also appeared in several TV shows and had a cameo in The Expendables 2, sadly his part was cut out later. And finishing our list with a surprising athlete, we introduce a Russian Olympic and World Champion figure skater, Evgeni Plushenko, one of the most entertaining athletes of all time. If you’re not a fan of winter sports, you could still be a fan of Plushenko. He is a true entertainer, even during his amateur career he did special programs during galas. Now he has his own production, called Kings of Ice. His most famous program is the Sex Bomb, which would definitely make you smile, which he performs now with his son.